Privacy Policy

(This English version is a translation of the legally binding German original. It is for informational purposes only.)

Name and Contact of the controller
as per article 4 (7) of the GDPR

Company: Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH
Address: Geisbergstrasse 29, 10777 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0) 30/ 88 77 2681
Telefax: +49 (0) 30/ 88 77 2690
Email: info(at)buddy-baer.com

Privacy Policy Officer
Name: Viviana Plasil
Address: Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH, Geisbergstrasse 29, 10777 Berlin
Email: plasil(@)buddy-baer.com

Security and protection of your personal data

Treating the personal data provided by you as confidential, and protecting them from unauthorised access, is one of our top priorities. Accordingly, we take the utmost care and make use of state of the art security standards, in order to ensure the best possible protection of your personal data.

As a private law company, we are subject to the provisions of the European data protection rules (GDPR), and the provisions of the new German Data Protection Act (BDSG new). We have taken technological and organisational measures to ensure that the rules relating to data protection are complied with, both by ourselves and by our external service providers.

Definitions

The requirement from the legislator is that personal data is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’). In order to ensure this, we would like to provide you with information in relation to the different statutory definitions, which we have used in this Data Protection Policy.

1. Personal Data
‘Personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

2. Processing
‘Processing’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.

3. Restriction of processing
‘Restriction of processing’ means the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting their processing in the future;

4. Profiling
‘Profiling’ means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements.
Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH does not carry out any profiling.

5. Pseudonymisation
‘Pseudonymisation’ means the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.

6. Filing system
‘Filing system’ means any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis;

7. Controller
‘Controller’ means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.

8. Processor
‘Processor’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

9. Recipients
‘Recipient’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or another body, to which the personal data are disclosed, whether a third party or not. However, public authorities which may receive personal data in the framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be regarded as recipients; the processing of those data by those public authorities shall be in compliance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of the processing;

10. Third parties
‘Third party’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data;

11. Consent
‘Consent’ of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;

Lawfulness of processing

The processing of personal data is only lawful, when there is a legal basis for processing personal data. As per Article 6 (1) (a) to (f) of the GDPR, the following in particular may constitute such a legal basis for processing:

a.     the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
b.     processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
c.     processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
d.     processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
e.     processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
f.     processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

Information regarding the collection of personal data

(1) The following provides information regarding the collection of personal data when using our website. Personal data includes, inter alia, names, addresses, email addresses and user behaviour.

(2) When you contact us via email or by way of a contact form, the data you provide (your email address, your name and phone number where applicable) will be stored by us, in order to be able to answer your questions. When we no longer need this data, we delete any such data collected in connection with this, or, if statutory retention periods require us to retain these data longer, the processing thereof shall be restricted.

Collection of personal data when visiting our website

When you merely visit our website for information purposes, i.e. when you do not register or transmit any other data to us, the only data collected by us is such personal data as your browser transmits to our server. If you wish to view our website, the following data are collected, which we require for technical reasons, in order to be able to display our website to you and to ensure the stability and security thereof (the legal basis for this is Article 6 (1)(f) GDPR):

-    IP-Address
-    Date and time of the request
-    Time zone difference to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
-    Content of the request (concrete page)
-    Access status/HTTP-status code
-    the respective data volume transmitted
-    Website from which the request is made
-    Browser
-    Operating system and interface
-    Language and version of browser software.

Use of Cookies

(1) In addition to the data mentioned above, cookies are stored on your computer if you use our website. Cookies are small text files, which are stored on your hard disk, identified to the browser you use, and which provide certain information to the entity from which the cookie originates. Cookies cannot run programs on your computer or transmit viruses. They are used in order to make the internet offering as a whole more user friendly and more effective.

(2) This website uses the following types of cookies, the scope and operating principles of which are explained below:

- Transient cookies (see a.)
- Persistent Cookies (see b.).

a. Transient cookies are deleted in an automated manner when you close the browser. These include in particular session cookies. Session cookies store a so-called session-ID, with which it is possible to identify different requests from your browser in the same session. This makes it possible to recognise your computer if you return to our website. These session cookies are deleted when you log out or close the browser.

b. Persistent cookies are deleted in an automated manner after a specific period of time, which may vary from cookie to cookie. Using the security settings of your browser you can delete the cookies at any time.

c. You can configure your browser settings according to your preferences, so for example you could configure it to reject third-party cookies or indeed all cookies. So-called third-party cookies are cookies that were placed by a third party, rather than the actual website which one is browsing at the moment. Please note that if you deactivate cookies, you may not be able to fully use all functions of this website.

d. We use cookies in order to identify you for future visits, if you have an account with us. Otherwise you would need to log in again for each visit.

Further functions and offers on our website

(1) Apart from the purely informative aspect of using our website, we also offer a variety of services that you can use, if that is of interest to you. Usually, in order to do this, you will need to provide further, personalised data, which we then use in order to provide the respective service. The abovementioned principles regarding data processing apply.

(2) We also use external service providers in order to process your data. These have been carefully selected by us, have been comissioned by us, are bound by our instructions and are monitored regularly.

(3) Moreover, we can pass your personal data to third parties when promotions, contracts or similar services are offered by us in conjunction with our partners. Further information on this is provided when you enter your personal data, or below where the offer is described.

(4) Where our service providers or partners are resident in a country outside the European Economic Area (EEC), we will provide you with information regarding the consequences of that in the description of the offer.

Using our online shop

(1) If you wish to place an order in our online shop, then, in order to enter into a contract, it is necessary that you provide your personal data, which we require for processing your order. The information that is required in order to enter into a contract is specifically marked. Providing any other information is voluntary. The data you provide to us will be used in order to process your order. For this purpose we are entitled to transmit your payment information to our bank. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 ( 1) S. 1 (b) GDPR.

You can decide to set up a customer account, which will enable us to store your data for future purchases. When you set up an account under the “my account” setting, the data you provide are stored, albeit not irrevocably. You can change these data yourself at any time. In order to delete your user account, please contact the Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH. This can be done in any one of the following ways: Contact via email to: shop@buddy-baer.com or by mail to: Buddy Bär Berlin GmbH, Geisbergstrasse 29, 10777 Berlin.

(2) Due to commercial and tax law provisions, we have an obligation to store your address, payment and order details for a period of 10 years. However, after two years we restrict the processing, i.e. your data will only be used for complying with our statutory obligations.

(3) In order to prevent any unauthorised access by third parties to your personal data, and particularly your financial data, the order process is encrypted using TLS technology.

Data protection provisions when using external payment service providers

(1) We offer a variety of payment methods when using our online shop, and we use different payment service providers for this. The data transmitted to the respective payment service provider will depend on the payment method you opt for. The legal basis for such transmission is Art. 6 ( 1) S. 1 (a) GDPR. Below we list our payment services providers.

BS PAYONE GmbH

If you opt for payment by credit card, we use payplace express, provided by BS PAYONE. When you chose this payment method, your personal data will be transmitted to the service provider stipulated. The legal basis for the transmission of the data is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR (consent) and Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (processing for the performance of a contract).

BS PAYONE GmbH
Lyoner Straße 9
D-60528 Frankfurt/Main
www.bspayone.com

BS PAYONE collects the following data:
-      Credit card holder
-      Credit card number
-      Expiry date of the credit card
-      Credit card security number

Detailed information on the data protection policy of BS PAYONE GmbH is available on https://www.bspayone.com/en/gtc

(1) Provided you give us consent, you can subscribe to our newsletter, which we use to keep you informed about our current offers. The goods and services advertised are stipulated in the declaration of consent.

(2) In order to subscribe to our newsletter, we use the so-called double-opt-in process. This means that after you have registered, we will send you an email to the email address you have provided, asking you to confirm that you would like us to send you the newsletter. If you do not confirm your registration within 24 hours, your data will be restricted and will be deleted automatically after one month. Moreover, we store the IP address you used and the timing of registration and confirmation. The purpose of this process is to be able to evidence your registration and, where applicable, to be able to investigate any potential misuse of your personal data.

(3) The only required information for receiving the newsletter is your email address. Any further data, which are marked separately and the provision of which is voluntary, is used in order to be able to address you personally. Once you have sent us your confirmation we will store your email address for the purpose of sending you the newsletter. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 ( 1) S. 1 (a) GDPR.

(4) You can withdraw your consent to receiving the newsletter at any time and unsubscribe from the newsletter. Withdrawing your consent can be done by clicking the unsubscribe link included in each newsletter email, by using the form on our website.
Contact via email to newsletter@buddy-baer.com or by sending a message to the contact address provided in the imprint of our website.

(5) Please note that sending out a newsletter does not result in any evaluation of your user behaviour.

Children

Our offer is aimed at adults. Persons under the age of 18 should not transmit any personal data to us without the consent of their parents or guardians.

Rights of the data subject

(1) Withdrawal of consent
Where the processing of personal data is based on consent given, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. If you wish to exercise your right of withdrawal you can contact us at any time.

(2) Right to confirmation
You have the right to obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you are being processed by us. You can request such confirmation at any time, using the contact details provided above.

(3) Right of access
Where personal data are processed, you may, at any time, request information on such personal data, and on the following matters:

a.      the purposes of the processing;
b.      the categories of personal data concerned;
c.      the recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organisations;
d.      where possible, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored, or, if not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;
e.      the existence of the right to request from the controller rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data concerning the data subject or to object to such processing;
f.      the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;
g.      where the personal data are not collected from the data subject, any available information as to their source;
h.      the existence, or lack thereof, of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Article 22(1) and (4) GDPR and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.

Where personal data are transferred to a third country or to an international organisation, you have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards pursuant to Article 46 GDPR relating to the transfer. We will provide a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. For any further copies you request, we may charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs. Where you make the request by electronic means, and unless you request otherwise, the information shall be provided in a commonly used electronic form. The right to obtain a copy referred to in paragraph 3 shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

(4) Right to rectification
You have the right to obtain from the us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.

(5) Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)
You have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning you without undue delay and we have an obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

a. the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;

b. The data subject withdraws consent on which the processing is based according to point (a) of Article 6(1), or point (a) of Article 9(2) GDPR, and where there is no other legal ground for the processing;

c. The data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or the data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(2);

d. the personal data have been unlawfully processed;

e. the personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject;

f. The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services referred to in Article 8(1) GDPR.

Where the controller has made the personal data public and is obliged pursuant to paragraph 1 to erase the personal data, the controller, taking account of available technology and the cost of implementation, shall take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform controllers which are processing the personal data that the data subject has requested the erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copy or replication of, those personal data.

The right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) does not exist in cases where processing is necessary: -     for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information;
-     for compliance with a legal obligation which requires processing by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
-     for reasons of public interest in the area of public health in accordance with points (h) and (i) of Article 9(2) as well as Article 9(3) GDPR;
-     for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) GDPR in so far as the right referred to in paragraph 1 is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of that processing; or
-     for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

(6) Right to restriction of processing
You have the right to demand a restriction of processing from us, where one of the following applies:

a. the accuracy of the personal data is contested by the data subject, for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data;

b. the processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes the erasure of the personal data and requests the restriction of their use instead;

c. the controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but they are required by the data subject for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;

d. the data subject has objected to processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR pending the verification whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override those of the data subject.

Where processing has been restricted as per the above provisions, such personal data shall, with the exception of storage, only be processed with the data subject's consent or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of important public interest of the Union or of a Member State.

In order to assert the right to restrict processing, the data subject can contact us at any time, using the contact details provided above.

(7) Right to data portability
You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and you have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data have been provided, where:

a. the processing is based on consent pursuant to point (a) of Article 6(1) or point (a) of Article 9(2) or on a contract pursuant to point (b) of Article 6(1) of the GDPR; and the processing is carried out by automated means.
In exercising your right to data portability pursuant to paragraph 1, you have the right to have the personal data transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible.

b. Any exercise of your right to data portability shall be without prejudice to the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”). That right shall not apply to processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

(8) Right to object
You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning you which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1) GDPR. The controller shall no longer process the personal data unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Where personal data are processed for the purposes of direct marketing, you have the right to object to such processing, to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing, at any time. Where you object to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data shall no longer be processed for such purposes.

In the context of the use of information society services, and notwithstanding Directive 2002/58/EC, you may exercise your right to object by automated means using technical specifications.

Where personal data are processed for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes pursuant to Article 89(1), you, on grounds relating to your particular situation, have the right to object to processing of personal data concerning you, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

This right can be exercised by you at any time by contacting the controller.

(9) Automated individual decision-making
You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. This does not apply if the decision:

a. is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between the data subject and a data controller;

b. is authorised by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard the data subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests; or

c. is based on the data subject's explicit consent.

The data controller shall implement suitable measures to safeguard the data subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests, at least the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller, to express his or her point of view and to contest the decision.

This right can be exercised by the data subject at any time by contacting the controller.

(10) Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
Moreover, and without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes this Regulation.

(11) Right to an effective judicial remedy
Without prejudice to any available administrative or non-judicial remedy, including the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority pursuant to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to an effective judicial remedy where you consider that your rights under this Regulation have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data in non-compliance with this Regulation.

Use of Matomo (formerly Piwik)

(1) The website www.buddy-bear.com uses the web analysis service Matomo, in order to enable us to analyse the use of our website and to constantly work on improving this. The statistics thus obtained allow us to improve our service and to make it more interesting for you as a user. The legal basis for using Matomo is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

(2) In order to allow for such an evaluation, cookies are stored on your computer. Any information collected in this way shall be exclusively stored on the controller’s server in Germany. You can configure the evaluation by deleting existing cookies and preventing new cookies from being stored. Please note that if you prevent cookies from being stored, you may not be able to fully use all functions of this website. You can use the setting in your browser to prevent cookies from being stored. It is also possible to stop Matomoto from being used, if you remove the tick shown in the Data Protection Policy on www.buddy-bear.com and thereby use the opt-out plug-in.

(3) This website uses Matomo with the extension “AnonymizelP". The allows IP addresses to be processed in abbreviated form so one can rule out that they are being directly linked to a particular individual. Your browser’s IP address, as transmitted by Matomo, does not get linked to any other data collected by us.

(4) The program Matomo is an open source project. You can find the third-party-provider’s information regarding data protection here: https://matomo.org/privacy-policy/.

Use of Google Analytics

This website uses the "Google Analytics" service provided by Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) to analyse website usage by users. The service uses "cookies" - text files that are stored on your terminal device. The information collected by the cookies is usually sent to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

IP anonymisation is used on this website. The IP address of the user is shortened within the member states of the EU and the European Economic Area. This shortening eliminates the personal reference of your IP address. Under the terms of the data sharing agreement between the website operators and Google Inc., Google Inc. uses the information collected to evaluate website usage and activity and to provide services relating to internet usage.

You have the option of preventing the cookie from being stored on your device by making the appropriate settings in your browser. It is not guaranteed that you will be able to access all functions of this website without restrictions if your browser does not allow cookies.

Furthermore, you can use a browser plug-in to prevent the information collected by cookies (including your IP address) from being sent to and used by Google Inc. The following link will take you to the corresponding plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

Here you can find further information on the use of data by Google Inc.: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de

Use of Google Maps

(1) On our website www.buddy-baer.com we use the services of Google Maps. This enables us to show you interactive maps on our website and allows you to conveniently use the map function.

(2) When you visit our website, Google receives information about which sub-site of our website you visited. In addition to this, the data specified in section 3 of this Policy are transmitted. This happens irrespective of the fact whether you are using a Google user account via which you are logged in, or whether no such account is being used. If you are logged in on Google, your data will be associated directly with your account. If you do not want this to be associated with your profile, you will need to log out before activating the button. Google stores your data as user profiles and uses them for advertising purposes, market research and/or customising its website. Such an evaluation takes place in particular (even for users who are not logged in) in order to provide targeted advertising and in order to provide information to other users of the social network about your activities on our website. You have a right to object against such a user profile being created, although to exercise this you need to address such an objection to Google.

(3) For further information regarding the purpose and extent of the data being collected and the way in which they are processed by the plug-in provider, please see the data protection policies of the provider. This will also provide you with further information regarding your rights in this respect, as well as possible settings to protect your privacy: http://www.google.de/intl/en/policies/privacy. Google also processes your personal data in the United States of America, and has submitted to the EU-US Privacy Shield, https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.

Processors

We work with external service providers (processors), for example for the purposes of hosting and the technical support for our web site. In order to ensure the protection of your personal data, we have entered into separate agreements with these service providers regarding contract data processing.

We work together with the following service providers:

jweiland.net
Jochen Weiland
Echterdinger Straße 57
Gebäude 9
70794 Filderstadt
Deutschland

mentronic - Digitale Kommunikation
Heinrich-Roller-Str. 16 B
10405 Berlin Deutschland